Mike Rose and Gerald Graff both stress how knowledge and education have a long lasting impact on your life. Although both have slightly different opinions of what is considered “intellectual” or “intelligent”, both seem to agree that success is only achieved when knowledge is applied. According to Gerald Graff, it is a common misconception that street smarts cannot be used within an academic setting. He suggests this by not only using personal connections, but also by recognizing the struggle and hardships students face throughout their academic career. Mike Rose on the other hand suggests that blue-collar work is demanding and taxing on both the body, the brain, and requires more intelligence than one might think. He too uses personal connections and manages to relate his ideas to current topics of discussion within the world.
In Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism”, he claims that people are either street smart or book smart. Graff goes on to explain his own adolescence experience in which he was more interested in sports than his own education. He was a regular…show more content… Rose tells us about his mother who was a waitress in various coffee shops, restaurants and of her abilities to remember who ordered what, know the average preparation times for different dishes, monitor an order that was taking too long while also being aware of the emotional state of the customers, co-workers, and management teams. She was able to make a living with only minimal education considering she quit school in the seventh grade to help raise her brothers and sisters. Rose went on to say that intelligence is not solely based on grades and IQ tests. A large part of education and mental growth happens at a work place due to the constant desire for
